The White House and Democrats pursued competing plans Monday to aid the ailing auto industry. But with Barack Obama on the sidelines, a newly minted $100.3 billion economic stimulus bill appeared doomed in the Senate, even as fresh layoffs and Wall Street losses testified to the continuing crisis.

The likely result will be a two-month delay before any major new action is initiated by Congress, a gamble for all sides but one that falls heavily on the shoulders of the Democratic majority. It may prove shrewd politics, creating more pressure for quick action when Obama takes office. But it is not without risks, sacrificing precious time and adding to the perception of a leadership void in Washington.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, once a figure of reassuring authority and self-confidence, has been badly battered in recent months, and no one has stepped forward to take his place. Obama resigned from the Senate on Sunday and has set no firm date for when he will name his economic and Treasury team. And for all her much-vaunted power, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been reluctant to spend her capital to make compromises that could move the ball forward.

“I think the delay is a serious mistake,” Harvard professor Martin Feldstein, a conservative economist who has urged a still larger stimulus package, told Politico. “House prices will fall another several percent, pushing more than a million more homeowners into negative equity. The economy will decline further. It would be much better to deal with the problem now, and not just in a token way.”

When Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke came to the Capitol late Monday to meet with Democratic leaders, it was almost precisely two months after the famous Sept. 18 session when the same two men came to warn of the need for major government intervention.

Treasury’s $700 billion rescue plan, enacted just weeks later, was the product of that session. But since Sept. 18, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen from 11,019 to 8,273 at the closing bell Monday, a decline of 25 percent. And Paulson has abandoned the initial purpose of the fund, to buy up troubled mortgage securities through a system of auctions — blessed by Bernanke — that promised to bring back private capital to supplement the government investment.

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Pelosi asked for Monday’s meeting to discuss the continuing market turmoil and what she called the “significant alterations” in the Treasury program. Paulson and Bernanke — as well as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair — will be back Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee, whose chairman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), wants Paulson to partner more with Bair to help homeowners faced with foreclosure.

In the nearly 90-minute meeting, Democrats pressed Paulson on past promises to use the rescue funds to effect more modifications by banks of distressed mortgages. And a major issue in the transition now is what will be done with the second $350 billion of the rescue package approved by Congress.

Paulson has said he has no intention of accessing the money immediately, meaning there will be no need for congressional action this week. But he could still force the issue later this year and, to the frustration of Democrats, has resisted committing funds to the auto industry or Bair’s efforts.

The secretary has lost standing even with friends in Congress. And for both parties, the legacy of the Treasury plan has been to discourage further action.

Republicans are smarting after paying a heavy price with conservative supporters for backing the plan. Democrats came away resentful of being pushed by the White House and Treasury to take quick action, only to see the plan changed by the same people who resisted even public hearings in advance.

“We are so over Bush,” said one Democratic aide. Another spoke of the “exhaustion” members felt with that they see as a “take it or leave it” approach by the administration after eight years in power.

Republicans’ objections — and Senate filibuster threats — are certainly a big obstacle to the new $100.3 billion stimulus bill introduced by Democrats. But it is equally true that these resentments have made Democratic leaders less willing to explore compromises — and discouraged Obama forces from pressing too hard at this point.

For months, White House aides have been dropping hints that the administration would embrace a jobs bill if it could get House action on a Colombia trade pact. Pelosi has been sensitive to Colombia’s request, drawing a line between herself and die-hard labor opposition. Lawmakers privately acknowledge that Colombia is an issue Obama can’t ignore — and that, however slowly, President Alvaro Uribe’s government has taken steps to correct human rights abuses and is an ally in this hemisphere.

But in the weeks before the election, no groundwork was ever done to make an agreement possible. And now Democrats have balked for fear of angering labor and opening up a post-election, internal party fight over what many view disparagingly as a “legacy issue for Bush.”

The same pattern is seen in the case of the auto industry, where General Motors is burning through its remaining cash and is in danger of being pushed into bankruptcy.

There is bipartisan support for some interim action before the end of this year, though the two camps are divided as to where the money should come from. Democrats would take $25 billion from unexpended funds in Treasury’s financial rescue package; the White House insists that the money come out of a previously approved Section 136 Energy Department loan program intended to support longer term investments in producing more energy efficient vehicles.

The 14-page bill introduced Monday evening by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) coupled the auto aid funds with new jobless benefits to help garner support. The bridge loans envisioned would run 10 years with a 5 percent interest rate for the first five years, after which it could rise to 9 percent.

Monday night, Frank released his own more detailed House version of the same $25 billion aid package for the industry. The proposed loans would be shorter, seven years vs. 10 in the Senate. Most important perhaps, Frank would create a financial oversight board and demand that any loan recipient submit a report by Mar. 31,2009 providing “an acceptable restructuring plan to achieve and sustain the long-term viability and international competitiveness of the industry.”

By comparison, critics argue that the administration has been tepid in its support for the industry, especially when compared with Obama’s more direct comments over the weekend. But a draft administration amendment would make substantial sums available by creating a new option under the existing 136 loan program within the Energy Department.

A company like GM could be helped, although it would be subjected to a higher interest rate than it would now pay under the 136 rules. And both the White House and Democratic alternatives impose new limits on executive pay and retirement benefits.

The real bone of contention is where the money comes from. Pelosi strongly objects to any raid on the 136 funds: “It’s not an ATM machine,” said a senior aide. But when push comes to shove, the California Democrat will have to navigate her environmental constituency and United Auto Worker allies, desperate for a deal.

“The president, president-elect and bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate all support the goal of providing $25 billion in bridge loans to sustain the auto industry through the current economic crisis,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), skipping past the environmental issue. “While there are differences in how to achieve that goal, there is no disagreement among those key leaders on whether it is necessary.”

In the case of the larger stimulus bill, the $100.3 billion package outlined by Senate Democrats on Monday goes beyond an earlier House-passed version totaling about $61 billion.

Among the largest items is an estimated $37.8 billion dedicated to help governors deal with health care costs by increasing Washington’s contribution to the state-federal Medicaid program for the poor. This is more than double the $14 billion provided in the House bill and appears to increase the federal share by 8 percentage points across the board — rather than a more targeted and modest adjustment favored by the House.